Bottom line is that it's easy to whinge on the internet.

Do you bother to start a post if all goes well? Probably not.

So apply a filter to what you read here, and you realise that while there are undoubted areas where improvements could be made, the vast majority of us have satisfactory or good experiences. Many of us can afford to pay for a few flights in premium cabins ourselves, and use avios advantageously.

Importantly, the businesses for which we work are satisfied that BA flies where we want, when we want and offers a level of service which is worth paying for.

That is the bottom line.

While many would prefer to be conveyed door to door on a Magic Carpet, attended to by a slew of buxom maidens, the reality is that a financially secure airline is the best way to ensure long term product improvements. We're seeing that slowly come to pass after one of the worst recessions in memory. Ever.

So I'd cut BA some slack, and recognise the legacy issues which BA has had to address (pension deficit, recalcitrant unions, underinvestment in fleet, high levels of competition, poor facilities at its hub, inability to expand cost effectively at Heathrow) and yet still puts up a jolly good fight against many highly funded new airlines without those issues (many of which are actually run by former BA men).